November  05, 2022

Dear Member;

Since March 15-16^th /2022, when the bargaining committee initiated the original exchange of proposals, we have met for a total of 12 days of bargaining.  As previously stated, bargaining has been extremely slow and frustrating with approximately 12 non-monetary items that have been signed off and agreed to in principal. When the Committees met Sept 6-7^th, Hydro's bargaining committee indicated they would have authority to address some of the significant monetary items. In reality, this was far from accurate resulting in a very unproductive round of bargaining in the eyes of the IBEW 2034's bargaining team.  At the conclusion of the bargaining session  in September, our team was reassured that Hydro’s bargaining committee would be prepared for the Oct 24-25-26^th dates and be able to bring a financial mandate. 
 
In the days preceding the most recent round of bargaining, the corporation contacted our committee stating that they had not received a mandate and could not confirm if the corporation had reached out to the Hydro-electric board or Broadway to authorize a mandate.  It had been suggested that perhaps we should postpone bargaining until future dates, but our committee decided to utilize the dates to dive deeper into the issues of attraction and retention (particularly in the north and isolated locations) discussed the hardship of being transferred to isolated areas and forced rotations, the lack of market competitiveness in the electrical utility sector, as well as the hostile actions the employer has taken against the IBEW office staff as a result of pressing important member issues!  When the committees departed on Oct 26th, it was expressed that we had no future interest in meeting unless the corporation was going come prepared with a mandate at future established dates of Dec 7-8^th and Dec 12-13-14^th .  What has been extremely difficult to comprehend is:

• How could Hydro’s bargaining committee not know if The Hydro-electric board or Broadway has been approached regarding approval of a mandate.
• Our committee is aware that the Manitoba Hydro Electric Board met Tuesday, July 12/2002 @ 12:30 (meeting # 949) at 360 Portage.  At this meeting, the committee received a report from Hydro’s CFO (Aurel Tess), received a report from President and CEO (Jay Grewal).  The Committee also discussed CEO Jay Grewal) Year-end Compensation as well as Board Committee Compensation.  We don’t know if IBEW 2034’s state of bargaining was discussed, but I would suggest that it would be reckless and irresponsible if the issue was not discussed in detail.
• After almost 7.5 months of bargaining, is it respectful to the process to still not have a mandate? 

 
Over the next week, our committee will be sending out a comprehensive survey to our membership.  In this survey, we will describe some of the pressing issues with detail and get feedback from our members on the importance of many of the key issues.  In this survey, we also intend to canvas the membership to determine  interest in a variety of different tactics that could be implemented if future labour action is required.  When the survey gets sent out, I urge all members to take the time to fill in the survey and provide this very important feedback for the committee. 
   
I wish you and your families a warm and safe weekend.  Please see the attached (below) IBEW CANADA’S STATEMENT ON ONTARIO BILL28 from Our International Vice President.

In solidarity,

Business Manager
IBEW Local Union 2034



 
IBEW CANADA’S STATEMENT ON ONTARIO BILL28
 
Earlier this week, the Government of Ontario passed legislation which imposed a contract on 55,000 education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). Included in the legislation was the rarely invoked notwithstanding clause, which blocks a constitutional challenge by the union over charter rights, that being the right to strike.
 
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers opposes the use of this legislation by the government to impose a contract and block charter rights. “We believe that the use of the Notwithstanding Clause is an extreme action which should never be used to interfere in the freedom to bargain collectively” said International Vice President Russ Shewchuk. “The IBEW was founded on the very principles of what this government is attempting to strip away. Our hope is that the parties can return to the table and negotiate an agreement as soon as possible.”
 
IBEW Canada urges the Ontario Government and CUPE to resume negotiations to resolve their outstanding issues.
 
-IBEW Canada represents 65,000 workers in construction, utility, railroad, telecommunications, manufacturing, broadcasting, papermill, mining and government across Canada

 
Russ Shewchuk
International Vice President
 
IBEW - 1^st District Office
300-1450 Meyerside Dr.
Mississauga, ON  L5T 2N5
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Ph: 905-564-5441
Fax: 905-564-8114
Website: www.ibewcanada.ca
 
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